Wednesday, September 03, 2008

The Quote: "It's my job to come in and keep us ahead, not put them ahead. This is a game we should have won. Just happens that we didn't win. We know where we're at [in the standings] so every game is big." - Boof Bonser

The Bullpen:

TWINS

% of innings pitched

era

wins

losses

April

35.4%

3.54

4

4

May

35.0%

3.94

6

3

June

34.3%

3.27

6

3

July

29.7%

5.21

3

2

August

30.3%

4.13

2

8

AL AVERAGE

% of innings pitched

era

wins

losses

April

34%

4.14

54

58

May

32.1%

3.43

50

53

June

33.4%

3.74

60

56

July

34.6%

4.29

53

49

August

34.8%

4.45

56

62

1) Ever since the Twins released Livan Hernandez, the bullpen has absorbed fewer innings. The defense for acquiring a veteran arm was to relieve the bullpen of work yet since jettisoning Livan, the Twins have needed to go to the bullpen less. Yet the Twins were forced to go to their bullpen more in the first half of the season - more frequently than the major league average.

2) So, did early overusage wear out the bullpen? Much scrutiny and ballyhoo is paid to the starters and their pitch counts, yet they often get five days to recover. Their maintanance is that like of a marathon runner. Relievers on the other hand are the game's sprinterd, asked to stay vigilant and ready at a moment's notice. Is the early season overuse weardown the arms? Guerrier was shut down last year. Crain was sawed open and repaired. Reyes missed a good portion of the season. Now Guardado, who has had history of injuries, is thrown into the mix. Do they have enough gas to get through September?

3) And does the added innings come at the expense of young starters? Neither Blackburn nor Perkins have worked this many innings in their professional careers. Blackburn's walk rate spiked in August and Perkins has had trouble perservering through the middle innings. Are these signs of tiring arms? What about Francisco Liriano who spent all of last season in rehab? His arm appears fresh since his retooling in Rochester but how much more does he have.

About OtB

"Parker Hageman is the Michael Cuddyer of Twins bloggers -- not the flashiest guy out there, but a solid everyday player. Hageman produces spot-on analysis ... relying on in-depth stats and lots of charts. He takes a sober, performance-based view of players, letting others fall for a player's heart or his leadership skills in the clubhouse. Hageman is one of the four pillars holding up the Star Tribune's TwinsCentric blog."